New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday revealed a seven point checklist that every region in the state must meet before reopening after the lockdown ends on May 15, and a lack of contact tracers is what holds every area back. 

Cuomo’s statewide shut down order is in place until May 15 but after then, different regions across the state will be able to reopen so long as they have met certain criteria.

It includes having 14 day declines in hospitalizations and deaths, having 30 percent of hospital beds and ICU beds free, doing sufficient testing and having enough tracers to track down anyone who may have come into contact with the virus. 

New York City meets three of the seven requirements and is held up by the lack of free hospital beds (it has 26 percent rather than 30 percent free), its persistent hospitalization rate, lack of free ICU beds (21 percent as opposed to 30 percent) and the fact there are not enough tracers. New York City needs 2,520. It is unclear how many there are.

In six parts of the state, the only thing holding them up from reopening is not having sufficient testing and not having sufficient tracing. Those areas – Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, Northern County and Southern Tier – meet every other requirement. 

It came as the number of deaths continued to decline. There were 226 deaths on Sunday, bringing the total to 19,415, and 717 new hospitalizations. 

The total number of infections across the state is now 318,953, 31 percent of the 1,007,310 tested. Six percent of all those who have been diagnosed have died. 

There were 2, 538 new positive cases found on Sunday which marks a significant decrease from last week, when more than 4,600 were diagnosed in a single day. 

The first businesses to reopen will be manufacturing, construction and curbside retail. 

SIX PARTS OF NY ARE READY TO REOPEN BUT ARE BEING HELD UP BY LACK OF TESTING AND TRACERS 

Gov. Cuomo said on Monday that it would be unfair to force some parts of the state to wait for New York City to reopen because it is the densest area with the highest number of cases. 

But according to his criteria for reopening, six rural areas are ready and are only being held up by a lack of testing and lack of contract tracers. 

Those areas – Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, Northern County and Southern Tier – meet every other requirement in terms of case and death count, hospital bed capacity and new hospitalizations. 

What they do not have is quick enough testing from the government or a sufficient number of tracers from former mayor Mike Bloomberg’s ‘army of tracers’. 

To be allowed to reopen, they must have 30 tracers per 100,000 residents. 

It means in total, there will have to be more than 5,800 across the state but it is unclear how many have been hired so far. 

In New York City alone, 2,520 are needed but Mayor Bill de Blasio had advertised jobs for 1,000 tracers.

The Governor’s office has not answered questions on how many have been put to work so far. 

The second phase will include professional services, real estate, more retailers, finance and administrative support. 

The third phase will allow restaurants, accommodation and other food services to reopen. Last will be arts, education, recreation and entertainment. 

Cuomo said it was not fair to force some parts of the state that do not have a severe problem to wait for the entire state to be ready, saying: ‘If upstate has to wait for downstate to be ready, they’re going to be waiting a long time.’  

The numbers are encouraging but Cuomo warned they could be a sign of flawed reporting over the weekend and should be treated cautiously. 

The reopening criteria includes a steady 14 day decline in new cases, deaths and having fewer than two people per 100,000 hospitalized with the virus on a daily basis.

Hospitals must keep 30 percent of their beds and 30 percent of their ICU beds clear for COVID-patients and 30 per 1,000 residents must be being tested monthly. 

The final criteria is to have at least 30 contact tracers per 100,000 residents to trace and isolate new cases. 

Of the seven requirements, some parts of the state like the Finger Lakes, Central New York and North Country, are already meeting five. 

New York City – the epicenter of the epicenter – meets three of the seven. 

Long Island currently meets only three of the seven. 

It is being held up by hospital deaths, which are not on a 14-day decline, new hospitalizations, and lack of hospital beds.   

What is holding it up from reopening is a lack of hospital beds and ICU beds, the persistent rate of new hospitalizations and a lack of contact tracers. 

It is unclear how many tracers – another of the criteria – have been hired yet. 

Cuomo speaking on Monday said no one would open before May 15

Cuomo speaking on Monday said no one would open before May 15

Cuomo speaking on Monday said no one would open before May 15

That effort is being led by former Mayor Mike Bloomberg as part of an effort with Johns Hopkins. 

They say they will produce an ‘army’ of tracers. 

Across the state, 5,864 are needed, including 2,520 in New York City alone.  

The city is currently hiring 1,000 people to fulfill those jobs for between $50,000 and $65,000 a year. 

It is also unclear how regions can seek to meet the requirements. 

If they are being held up purely by a lack of hospital beds, Cuomo did not say whether they could add more to their systems or if they had to wait for 30 percent of what they currently have to become available. 

Cuomo said that the data clearly shows a descent from the virus peak but that it was not happening as quickly as anyone hoped it would. 

It came as a field hospital set up in Central Park to deal with the overflow of patients prepared to close.  

WHO WILL REOPEN FIRST: MANUFACTURING, CONSTRUCTION AND CURB-SIDE RETAIL WILL BE FIRST THEN REAL ESTATE AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES – RESTAURANTS WILL COME IN THIRD WAVE AND SCHOOLS WILL BE LAST 

Cuomo also gave a plan to reopening which included for the first time the order in which businesses will  reopen. 

The first businesses to reopen will be manufacturing, construction and curbside retail. The second phase will include professional services, real estate, more retailers, finance and administrative support. 

The third phase will allow restaurants, accommodation and other food services to reopen. Last will be arts, education, recreation and entertainment. 

Schools have already been let out for the rest of the academic year. 

Businesses will be asked to put together plans for how they can implement social distancing once employees return to work too. 

‘We need businesses to re-imagine how they’re going to do business and get ready for how they’re going to protect their work force 

‘That’s going to be up to businesses to reconfigure their work place. A business is going to figure out how to do that. 

‘There are some regions that right now by the numbers pose a lower risk, that some that pose a lower risk 

Of those criteria that we went through, which ones are in place for which region, which ones still have work to do in those areas this is going to be region by region  each region has to put together…they’re getting all that input. 

‘Then day by day they’re making a decision as to how to reopen. Based on the data,’ he said.

He did not give any detail on how long the phased reopening would take. 

‘It was a blunt operation and one that was done all across the country,’ he said, speaking of closing the state down. 

‘When you go to restart, now knowing what we now, it’s more nuanced and you have to be more careful. No one has been here before. 

‘Start by learning the lessons that we did learn and second let’s be smart about what we do and I get the emotion and impatience and anxiety… we all feel it. It’s unsustainable on many levels. It’s unsustainable personally. A lot of anxiety is now all through our community,’ he said. 

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